close
close

Predicted line-up of Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund: Champions League


Predicted line-up of Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund: Champions League

Real Madrid host Borussia Dortmund in a second leg of the 2024 Champions League final, but this time Los Blancos have Kylian Mbappé on their side.

Less than five months ago, Real Madrid and Dortmund met at Wembley Stadium to crown the new Champions League winners. Carlo Ancelotti's men defeated BVB thanks to goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinícius Júnior and went on to lift the club's 15th Champions League trophy.

The two teams will meet again on October 22nd in the new league phase of the 2024-25 Champions League. Dortmund remain perfect in the competition with wins over Club Brugge and Celtic, while Los Blancos suffered a surprise defeat against Lille. Real Madrid will be looking to get their title defense back on track, especially now that Mbappé, Rodrygo, Vinícius Jr. and Thibaut Courtois have all recovered from their respective injuries.

After Ancelotti's back three failed against Celta Vigo at the weekend, expect the coach to return to his typical XI and use his most trusted players to bolster his back line in Carvajal's absence.

This is what Real Madrid's team could look like against Nuri Şahin's men.

Join the Real Madrid WhatsApp community at SI Soccer – get all the latest news and analysis straight to your phone

TW: Thibaut Courtois– Courtois was back to his usual heroics at the weekend after recovering from an abductor injury. He will make his second UCL appearance this season.

RB: Lucas Vazquez—After Dani Carvajal's season-ending knee injury, Vázquez is Ancelotti's new first-choice right-back.

CB: Eder Militão—Despite playing with discomfort on Saturday, Militão is expected to start against Dortmund, something he was unable to do in the 2024 UCL final due to injury.

CB: Antonio Rüdiger—The 31-year-old will have the difficult task of silencing Serhou Guirassy, ​​who has scored seven goals in as many games for Dortmund this season.

LB: Ferland Mendy– Expect the left-back to return to the starting XI after just 20 minutes against Celta Vigo.

CM: Federico Valverde—The Uruguayan is the only player in the team to start every game for Los Blancos this season and his streak is sure to continue as the midfielder prepares for his 14th consecutive start.

CM: Aurélien Tchouaméni— After another experiment in defense, expect the Frenchman to return to midfield.

CM: Jude Bellingham—The England international played well as a right midfielder on Saturday but expects to return to his preferred left side against Dortmund.

RW: Rodrygo—Rodrygo should return to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a minor back problem in the Madrid derby. However, the 23-year-old has struggled to perform on the right wing since Mbappé's arrival, meaning Ancelotti could stick with a four-man midfield in place of the Brazilian winger.

ST: Kylian Mbappe– Mbappé just scored against Celta Vigo and leads the team in goalscoring despite missing time with a previous hamstring injury.

LW: Vinicius Junior– The Brazilian may be Real Madrid's second-leading goalscorer this season, but Vinícius Jr. has yet to score in Los Blancos' Champions League title defense.

READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *